PhD Exams

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PhD Exams at NC State#

In general, you will encounter three major exams during your PhD program:

  1. Written Preliminary Exam: Supposed to show that you are capable of conducting research in your area, usually happens around first paper submission time.
  2. Oral Preliminary Exam: Outline for thesis proposal.
  3. Final Exam (Defense): Final defense of your thesis.

1. Written Prelim#

Consists of a written report (usually your first research paper draft / preprint, but no more than 7000 words) and an oral presentation (40–45 min, usually scheduled for 90 min to allow for admin and questions, announced and public to anyone).

The committee usually consists of 3 members (Advisor, area rep, department rep/chair). Grading is done via 2 forms (but only Pass/Fail for the student):

Grading Details

There are two evaluation forms for the written prelim exam:

Written Prelim Grading Report#

The actual pass/fail decision comes from this form

  • Comments on originality
  • Comments on technical quality
  • Comments on presentation
  • Final score (individual committee member’s):
    1. Strong reject
    2. Reject
    3. Weak reject
    4. Neutral
    5. Weak accept
    6. Accept
    7. Strong accept
  • Exam Outcome (combined committee decision):
    • Pass / Fail

Depending on the final scores:

  • A student with three scores of 5 or higher passes the exam.
  • A student with three scores of 3 or lower fails the exam.
  • All other cases are decided by committee discussion.

Written Prelim Exam Assessment#

This is used for departmental assessment purposes only, I think, not for grading the student. Still putting it here to show what is assessed:

  • Taulbee Area
  • All 1. Strongly Disagree to 5. Strongly Agree scales:
    • Reviews the literature in a way that demonstrates a comprehensive understanding of the research in the area of study.
    • Identifies research questions or problems pertinent to the field of study, providing a focus for making a significant contribution to the field.
    • Gathers, organizes, analyzes and reports data using a conceptual framework appropriate to the research question and the field of study.
    • Interprets research results in a way that adds to the understanding of field of study and relates findings to teaching and learning in computer science.
    • Communicates research effectively in written form using language appropriate to the field of study.
    • Communicates research effectively in oral form using language appropriate to the field of study.
    • Has established a productive research agenda that prepares student to extend his or her research beyond graduate school.
  • Other comments

Some common questions to expect during the oral (mostly testing your understanding of the work and its context):

  • Why is this important?
  • Why did you choose [method/algorithm] over [other method/algorithm]?
  • What are the limitations of your approach?
  • What are the potential real-world applications of your research?
  • What are your next steps (for your next paper)

Admin Stuff#

In the semester the exam is to be taken, the student will register for up to 6 credits of CSC 890 (Doctoral Preliminary Exam). (Alternatively, the credits may be spread over two successive semesters.)

From CSC’s Ph.D. in Computer Science page:

The Written Preliminary Exam is the first milestone in the student’s Ph.D. program. The purpose of this exam is to measure research aptitude, preparation (including knowledge of a specialization area) and proper research methodology. It is expected that the student will have conducted an extensive literature search of a problem area, identified a research problem and obtained some preliminary research results in that area. The work for this exam must be substantially that of the student, with minor help from the advisor or others.

The exam requires both a written report and an oral presentation. The report should be approximately 7000 words and should include sufficient background information to be accessible to a non-specialist. If the report has already been submitted for publication and has multiple authors, the student must make clear that the work and the writing are mostly their own efforts. It is not acceptable to use a paper in which the writing or the work is substantially due to others, since this would not represent the student’s independent efforts. The oral presentation is open to all faculty and students in Computer Science.

Templates#

Grad Office Announcement Details Email

Subject: CSC 890 Written Prelim Exam - [Your Name] - Announcement Details

Dear Graduate Office,

I would like to submit the required details for the announcement of my CSC 890 Written Prelim Exam.

  • Student Name: X
  • Student ID: Y
  • Advisor: Z
  • Date & Time: Tue, Oct 21, 1:00 PM-3:00 PM, 2025
  • Mode: In-Person
  • Place: 3211 EB2 building

Committee Members:

  • Dr. Member 1 (Chair and Department Representative)
  • Dr. Member 2 (Area Representative)

Exam Title: [Exam title]

Abstract:

[Abstract]

Best regards,

2. Oral Prelim#

3. Defense#

(Also “Final Oral Exam”)

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